U.S. employers in April added jobs at one of the fastest paces of the recovery, rekindling hopes for an upturn strong enough to alleviate the economy's longstanding ills.

Nonfarm employment grew by 288,000 in April and the jobless rate sank to 6.3%, the Labor Department said Friday. The new jobs—spread across an array of industries from retail to construction—put total payrolls closer to the all-time peak, reached near the...